Editors' Picks: The TV.com Staff's Top 10 Shows of 2013

One of the reasons I love being employed at TV.com is that I get to work with so many great people and hardcore TV fans. They're a strange lot, with tastes ranging from the predictable to well outside the norm, and nowhere is that more obvious than in our annual collection of editors' picks for the best TV series of the year. I mean, Cory named Catfish as one of his top shows! But in this mad 365 days of television that offered so many amazing series to satisfy everyone's weird preferences—we even upped our lists from five picks to 10 to accommodate more shows—unusual choices are more than welcome, because that's what makes us individuals. So take a look at our lists and pay particular attention to the shows you might not be familiar with, who knows, maybe you'll find a new favorite, too. Thanks for reading, and here's to an equally amazing 2014.

Here's the thing, guys: There was so much great television in 2013 that I could have done a top 40 and still felt like I'd missed something. My top eight shows have been locked in for a while, and
so really, it's a 32-way tie for ninth, and I thought it'd be best to pay some attention to shows that other people probably won't mention. And also, Catfish is pretty amazing. The MTV docudrama really came into its own in its second season, and not just because Nev let my
dude Max share the spotlight. Whether the show is totally—or even remotely—real is beside the point, as week after week, it was a weirdly moving platform for (admittedly brief) explorations of
not only personal identity and heartbreak, but also sexuality, class,
depression, and much more. It's weird to say it, but Catfish is
one of the few shows that really digs into issues that speak to and
about our contemporary culture. In that regard, it's not only one of the
best shows of 2013, it's one of the most important. —Cory

Anyone who's been paying attention to British comedy for the past 25 years
wouldn't be surprised by the high-level premise for The Wrong
Mans: A scrawny, socially impotent, very English gent finds
himself a hapless victim of circumstance and egged on by an
over-enthusiastic, bold, thick, and somehow also very English friend
to do extraordinary things. There's something different about this
show, though, as Sam and Phil seem more like active participants in a
plot that seems to increase in hopelessness and awkwardness in
impossible amounts. Unlike other underdog action movies, in which bad
things happen but you see the window the story leaves open for
your heroes to escape, Sam and Phil are doomed by the universe—it's like Final Destination, except instead of nature
conspiring to kill them, their predators are conniving members of the organized crime
underworld, pinning any number of heinous acts on the guys or just outright
trying to shoot them. And the fact that the single season is only six episodes long doesn't hurt.
Compact, no dull moments, commercials are your only relief. (I love you,
British series length.) —Nick

I’m not one for relative rankings of stuff. I started with a list of two or three dozen shows that could’ve made my top ten, and on a different day any of them very well might have. So like Cory, part of my thought process was to choose a few shows I didn’t expect to see cited elsewhere, and Spartacus was definitely one of them. It concluded its run in 2013 with far less fanfare than your Breaking Bads or your Dexters, though it was often the equal of the former and vastly better than the latter. Going in, War of the Damned faced a few hurdles—the loss of several popular characters the previous season, an inevitably morbid conclusion predetermined by history. But it never lost its knack for brash, confident storytelling. Blending lurid, pulpy entertainment with canny cat-and-mouse maneuvering and a darkly philosophical mien, the series rode its breakneck plotting all the way to an emotionally resonant finale that refused to either ignore or succumb to the fatalism at the core of this story. With its uniquely florid dialogue, lush production design, thrilling fight choreography, and meticulous direction, Spartacus looked and sounded like nothing else on TV. For that alone, it’ll be missed. —Andy

In a year filled to the brim with new shows about the tolls of murder and death, Hannibal stood apart from its colleagues with an aesthete's eye for dreamy horror and and a narrower focus on psychological trauma. It wasn't just that there was a serial-killer-of-the-week to catch, but that these killers had a reverence for their victims, and a desire to transform them, into everything from mushroom gardens to bloody angels to totem poles to cellos (yes, cellos). Like Hannibal's dishes—themselves a transformation of his victims—the show's cases were lovingly constructed pieces of art with a baroque sense of gore, both terrible to look at and yet impossible to look away from. And while the visuals alone would've earned Hannibal a spot on this list, what pushed the series to the top of a rich year was its unflinching psychological destruction of Will Graham. Few shows about murder are willing to delve into the scars that death inflicts on those who solve the murders—as Hannibal does with Will's struggle to cope with his empathy—but then Hannibal doubles down on that notion through its title character's use of honeyed speech, misleading psychological insights, and outright lies to destroy Will. The show's ultimate scare, it turned out, wasn't the gore, but the soft-spoken words of a well-dressed man posing as a friend. —Noel

Uh, it's no longer up for debate how good Teen Wolf is, because it is VERY good and has been for a
while. Last season proved it was one of the weirdest, most inspired,
and entertaining shows on TV. But Season 3 was some next-level
insanity. Seriously, the sheer ambition of telling such a sprawling,
interlocking story about the Darach, the Alpha Pack, a banshee, the
Druids, and the myriad emotional dramas between a stellar roster of
characters automatically made Season 3A the best yet. Plus, the fact
that executive producer Jeff Davis actually stuck the landing means
this season might be a hard one to beat for the rest of Teen
Wolf's run. Sure, the labyrinthine plotting and hilariously
lugubrious backstory sometimes felt unwieldy, like a runaway
locomotive barreling into Hot Topic. But if we're being honest with
ourselves, that kind of beguiling, dream-logic confusion is exactly
what Teen Wolf does best, and what more TV shows need more of (like,
it appears the creators of Sleepy Hollow definitely took
note).

And I can't talk about the season overall without praising one episode in particular: "Motel California"
was certainly a high watermark for Teen Wolf. It somehow
managed to be terrifying and elegant and intimate (that instantly
groundbreaking sex scene!), and it did so without the benefit
of serialized set-up or payoff. No, "Motel California" was a
standalone horror show that brought hints of Argento, Carpenter, and
Hitchcock to MTV. From week to week, Teen Wolf's third season thrilled and confused us with unpredictable (and occasionally
baffling) storytelling, but its emotional through-lines remained
flawless. At this point it's hard to know whether it will keep up this
impossible trajectory when the second half of Season 3 starts next
month, but knowing this show's track record thus far, it'd be foolish
to expect otherwise. —Price

This Adult Swim epic is the rare comedy for weirdos and classic humorists alike. Making the transition from procedural to a 10-part serialized "Thursday-night movie," Paradise Rising follows the continued adventures of U.S. Marshal Chris Monsanto (Chris Elliot, who we would watch read the phonebook if phonebooks still existed) as he fights bizarre criminals and maneuvers around the secret that he violently killed partner Brett Mobley (Brett Gelman) in wood-chipper accident. What began as a skewed Walker, Texas Ranger parody has now evolved into a gleefully violent theater of the absurd, where Maria Thayer markets a show that stars apple-head dolls and Joe Estevez uses his traveling soul to grift for spaghetti. It's a Naked Gun for a new generation— quotable in an early Homer Simpson kind of way, with plenty of laughs for the those of us sociopaths who enjoy plots about sentient fedoras and preposterous ultra-violence. —Ryan

Ah, Continuum, among the finest of the Canadian imports. Continuum's
second season continued to bring all of the awesome things: timey-wimey
stuff, badass lady cops, and a future ruled by nerds. Well, one nerd.
Maybe. Depending on how that aforementioned timey-wimey stuff works out.
Season 2 also tackled the more personal side of dicking around with time travel—if, in fact, that's what's actually happening and not an
unavoidable (and unfortunate) fate playing out as it was always
intended. We met up with Kiera's old partner, watched Kiera have a
nervous breakdown that was a loooong time coming, and encountered the ruthless
"freelancers." Erik Knudsen brought out the darker side of nice, nerdy
Alec and for the first time, the question of how such a gentle dweeb evolved into Big Brother personified was addressed—and it was sad
because of course it was. We long suspected that Liber8 might not
actually be the baddest of the baddies on this show, and by the end of
the season, they actually looked like the closest thing to allies Kiera
had left. Now if only we could figure out how to get the U.S. and Canadian
broadcasts to cooperate! —MaryAnn

I wanted to throw a little love to Reign, The CW’s ambitious
period piece, because in its brief run it's been making all the right
choices, and that deserves applause. In addition to looking lush and
beautiful and expensive AND having an incredibly appealing cast, the
series is aiming high for its audience. With intricate plotting that moves
lightning fast and a shrewd, brave heroine (Mary Queen of Scots,
portrayed by the instantly lovable Adelaide Kane), it's defying all my
expectations for how a typical teen romantic drama should operate while
preserving all the elements I watch teen dramas for: Hello angst! Hello sweeping romance! Hello unbearable heartache! All that, but
wrapped up as a period drama. Also Anne of Green Gabl— excuse me, Megan Follows— is
KILLING IT as the diabolical Catherine de Medici. If you have even a
passing interest in Renaissance politics or a castle with secret
passages or just a teen drama that portrays girls as considered, layered
individuals and not H&M mannequins, this is the show you’ve been
waiting for. Long may it Reign! —Lily

Maybe it's because it's tucked away on IFC that more people aren't talking about this show, but no series on television has ever made me laugh harder on a consistent basis. Comedy Bang! Bang! is a fake talk show with infinite potential because it exists in a fake world full of zany characters, taxidermy that talks, and the occasional ghost. The series' endless creativity keeps it eternally fresh and funny; bandleader Reggie Watts and host Scott Aukerman have chemistry that would make Walter White jealous, and the revolving door of guests—both real and fake—showcases some of the best talent out there who you may not be familiar with (do yourself a favor and watch any of Andy Daly's appearances). If you're a fan of Community, check it out, as it's meta as all heck and essentially a real-life version of Troy & Abed in the Morning. —Tim

In 2013, FX's Justified moved
away from telling stories about Big Bads like Mags Bennett and Robert
Quarles and took on a new format: the season-long mystery. It was a
bold move for a series entering its fourth year, but the search for Drew
Thompson was just as thrilling as any other story from the show's past. By separating Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder for most of the season, the series proved
that it was more than capable of driving forward without relying on their electrifying
relationship as fuel, making everything that much better when their
roads eventually did cross in "Decoy" as the search for Thompson
brought them back into each other's orbits. Season 4 also featured a compelling storyline for Jacob Pitts' Tim after three seasons of mostly
tertiary plots, and when you add in Patton Oswalt's fantastic turn as
Constable Bob, it was
filled to the brim with stellar performances. Of course, those performances wouldn't
exist at all if it weren't for writing that I dare say is on par with
that of series like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. The series is as smooth as the best whiskey in Kentucky, it deftly inserts dry humor into moments of tension, and it's baffling to me that it doesn't earn more awards recognition—but as
long as Justified is content with flying under the radar while still turning in
some of the most gripping drama currently on TV, I'm okay with it too.
(But I'd be totally cool if Walton Goggins won an Emmy, just saying.) —Kaitlin

I can't believe I'm the only one with Masters of Sex on my list! Okay, maybe the pilot didn't turn you on, but if that's the case, Showtime's new period piece is worth a second look—the series is a grower, not a shower. It takes its time and it isn't selfish; itwants
to keep viewers satisfied. By the end of the first season, even the smaller side plots had reached a compelling climax—almost as if to underscore the finding that size doesn't matter. And while there's
plenty of pay-cable coitus (duh), Masters of Sex does an
impressive job of not being lazy or gratuitous with it; generally, it
takes an artful, winking approach that elevates the sexy funtimes to
make them both emotionally resonant AND entertaining. Meanwhile, the show
skillfully uses its '50s setting and real, historical source material in
a way that's both titillating and eye-opening—no easy feat for a
story whose ending can be found on Wikipedia. And the performances, oh,
the performances! As you may've heard, Michael Sheen is indeed pretty masterful as the somewhat-cold and calculating William Masters, but it's Lizzy Caplan who deserves all the accolades for her captivating turn as Virginia Johnson, one of the year's best new characters. The supporting cast is excellent, too, particularly Beau Bridges and Allison
Janney as the university's closeted gay provost and his heartbroken
wife. All in all, Masters of Sex is a seductive new series that I can't wait to,
errrr, jump back into bed with when it returns for Season 2. —Jen

Geez! I'm starting to think you guys have no taste. "The Walking Dead" was not present in none of your lists and "Game of Thrones" was on the 4th spot, at best! What about "Grimm", "House of Cards" and Fringe's finale ?!

10. Sleepy Hollow
9. Walking Dead
8. Supernatural
7. Elementary
6. Suburgatory
5. Pysch
4. Teen Wolf
3. Endgame (yeah I know the first and only season was in 2011 but I only discovered it in 2013)
2. Haven
1. Game of Thrones

Hard to list only 10 and leave out awesome shows like Continuum, Hell on Wheels, Sherlock, Copper, Covert Affairs, The Blacklist, The Walking Dead, Arrow, Mad Men, Suits, Parks and Rec, Switched at Birth, Being Human, Teen Wolf, New Girl, Awkward, Elementary, SoA, etc! Basically, even though the new shows mostly tanked, we still had a lot of great television to watch in 2013. Here's to more great TV in 2014!

Interesting reading & I've got a few ideas of shows I might look into after some of the spotlights. Just wanted to say though, Reign is one of the very few shows which surprised me this year. I didn't expect to like it as much as I do (or at all in fact) but now I love it. I'm happy to see Lily spotlight it as I've been recommending it to friends who normally wouldn't watch a show like it.

The Walking Dead
Person of Interest
Hawaii 5-O
Suits
Almost Human
NCIS
NCIS:LA
Arrow
White Collar
Sleepy Hollow
This is my little list (of course like many here the list could be longer) and I can't wait for it all to kick off again in the new year.

in fairly random order
breaking bad
the americans
hannibal
AHS coven
enlightened
masters of sex
getting on (anyone else watching this little gem of a show)
orange is the new black
rectify
the mindy project
south park (the black friday trilogy was awesome)
shameless
veep
it's always sunny in philadelphia

Already made my top 10 earlier, but I just binge-watched Witches Of East-End, and boy does that show need to be in someone's list! It is excellent television, as soapy as it may be! One of the best shows in its kind!

10 Legit (brilliant comedy)
9 Orange Is The New Black
8 Broadchurch (British drama at is best, soon to be destroyed by an American remake)
7 Nashville
6 Happy Endings (why did this end and shit like Dads stays?)
5 The Following (was I the only one who really liked this show?)
4 Modern Family
3 The Wrong Mans (the best British sitcom for years)
2 The Big Bang Theory (the best US sitcom since Friends)
1 Wentworth (or Wentworth Prison if you watched outside of Australia)

Wednesdays have the best shows for me, but there has been a few surprises these years. I think some of the older shows have been greatly improved as well like SVU and TGW.

1) Law and Order SVU (Old fave, improved writing)2) The Good Wife (Excellent season! Exciting and stirred up)3) Orange is the New Black
4) Modern Family
5) Game of Thrones6) Person of Interest (The addition of new kickass females makes it different) 7) Orphan Black
8) Downton Abbey
9) Elememtary10) Back in the Game (I really liked it though it has been cancelled)

Actually it will be kind of easy to fill this one but not necesseraly in the correct order

1. Reign (It was on my top list for this year, I was so right)
2. Once Upon a Time the 3A part (I love to hate Peter Pan)
3. The Originals (good especially for me who had never watched TVD)
4. Haven ( I am currently praying for a renewal and was thrilled to see Colin Ferguson)
6.Sleepy Hollow
5.Teen Wolf (3A)
6 Les revenants (The returned)
7.Ravenswood (not as bad as people think it is)
8. Twisted (but I need some answers, I 've quit PLL cause of it lacks of answers....)
9. Hannibal (I was expecting nothing much, I was wrong)
10. Da Vinci's demons (was short but good)
11. GOT
12. American Horror Story

All these shows made my 2013....none will replace Fringe in my heart.
Doctor Who is of competition as I am a Whovian at heart ! (even if the second part of the season and 2 specials were really disappointing)

Top four and then random order for the rest.
Based on shows that I would not to ever miss.
1. Game of Thrones
2. Downton Abbey
3. Walking Dead
4. The Killing
Arrow
Nikita
Grimm
The Mentalist
Love It or List It
Real Housewives of OC

The thing I can say after reading this article is that I'm not compatible material with the staff here :).
At best I have one show in common with a few men here and mostly zero. And 2 shows with the woman but no I'm not a womanizer!!!
Anyway like we say at home "to each his own tastes"

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